just wondering.. i should be going sometime next week but they wouldnt even give me a ballpark figure.. i will be providing the camber kit so they wont charge for that.. how much did you pay?

 

alignments range from 65 bucks to 200 bucks with a lifetime warrantee, its all about what you want to pay(they shouldnt charge you extra because the car is lowered)

 

just for the front wheels, right?

 

I had my car lowered AND a new rack-and-pinion put in.. but I didn't need a "custom" alignment. I took my car to a national chain (NTB- National Tire and Battery) and they properly adjusted for everything...

 

Yeah there is no alinment for the rear mine cost me $57something with tax n stuff. Not bad i guess. Have not had a problem since and i had it done last year in June.

 

yea u shouldnt need any special alighnment unless u want certain camber or toe in/out specs for auto x........most places are aroung 50-60 buxs for 1 time alignment

 

we had a lot of debate about this before. Just because you change your springs doesnt mean you need an alignment.

Do the swap. See if your car pulls or drives differently. You might not even need an alignment.

I've been running Eibach/GR2s for 2 years now and my alignment has been dead on the whole time. Luckilly I have a friend with a shop that checks alignments for free.

If you do need an alignment ask if the shop will grind your strut holes to adjust camber if it's off. If they are not willing to do this then it's pointless because you'll just get half an alignment.

The only adjustable thing on our cars-from the factory- is Toe In. Which is the way the wheels turn in relation to each other.

 

anybody in eastern mass know of a shop that will do a suspension install?
probably posting in the wrong spot, but any help would be great

 

I am dropped on h&r/illuminas with 20 inch wheels. I did this and after about 3000 miles the inner part of the front 2 tires are bald and it pulls to both sides like crazy. I've been doing some reading and some posts say I just need a camber kit and some say alignment. I called the shop (good year) and they said they would have to look at it but it would be "custom" and to bring a camber kit?

 

also the driver side front wheel is noticably angled inward.. the passenger side doesnt look different but when i examined it today it was a little worn.. not as bad as driver though

 

bump for more opinions

 

$40 dollahs, and they do a great job.
No camber kit needed and the pulled it within specs! wot!

 

99 bucks at firestone lifetime alignment

 

was you car ever in an accident? Did somebody reputable do your install? Something doesn't sound right.

 

This problem didnt start until after the drop..and i did the install myself.

 

I dont understand what you mean by pulls to both sides like crazy.

Here's what you do. Go on a straight flat road. Like a straight highway. When you're on this straight road, let go of the steering wheel. See which way the car pulls.

Do this a few times. If the car rides straight when you let go of the wheel then gently tap on the brakes. If the car pulls now, its because one of your brakes. Not the alignment.

The problem of pulling to both sides might be a badly worn tie rod end and/or a bad ball joints.

Running on 20s will not help your suspension either.

 

Does changing your spring/strut setup require an alignment to be done any differently?

 

Good info. I've been wondering the same thing now for weeks since I just finished putting coilovers on my max. Do I really need an alignment just because I put Progressive coilovers on my Max? In my eyes, I only dropped the car, I didn't change the alignment of the suspension (not possible considering there's only one way to do it, with no adjustments)

My car drives just as straight as when I had the factory SE suspension on. Same goes for my camaro and my Supra. When I changed the suspension and put coilovers on, my cars still drove straight and no bad tire wear. And so, with all 3 cars, I've never gotten alignments after suspension mods.

What about new rims and tires? Is an alignment necessary then? Again, I don't think so. I've never done it and my tires always wear normally.

So, my question is, why is it that some people have problems and some people don't when we/they change our suspension?

It seems it's engraved in most people's headS that when you change your suspension/tires (even a simple drop w/o a camber kit) that you need an alignment. Where did this way of thinking come from? From tire shops? I dunno.

thoughts?

 

Yup, but it's always nice to get an alignment. Great to get the steering tighter for big trips. Oh and $40 ... and I didnt know you could get a warrenty on alignment!!?

 

Alignment after new tires: Yes and no. If your tires wore evenly then i'd say no. If they wore unevenly then yes. You don't want to ruin a new set of $400 tires by skimping on a $50 alignment.

Why do people think they need an alignment? Why do people have a period and post like madmen when their batteries die. It's because they can. Stores will recommend an alignment after you get struts because its more money in their pockets, and quite frankly, most of them are too stupid to realize that the only thing on maximas that are adjustible is Toe In.

Toe is altered by working on the steering. Not the suspension.

Depending on the health of other suspension parts like the ball joints, control arms, and bushings, the alignment will not change by lowering your car so that it's out of limits. If anything you'll get a little negative camber on the front wheels that will help handling.

There are always exceptions. From my experience working on maximas and owning 3 of them now (yes I consider my I30 a maxima), I have only had to have a camber adjustment on one. After I smacked a curb and a lowered storm drain doing 90. Damn Long Island Expressway.

I think any shop that insists you need an alignment after a simple spring/strut change is stealing your money. ESPECIALLY if theyre not willing to adjust your camber properly by modifying your lower strut bolt holes.

NO camber kit is necessary. They do the same thing as grinding out your bolt hole.

 

But why get an alignment if you don't need one? It's not very nice on the wallet to throw away money on unecessary work. What do you mean by "get the steering tighter"? How does steering tightness and an alignment go hand in hand? Explain what you mean.

 

Take it to NTB or Firestone. Dont say anything about the drop. Let them deal with it. Thats what I did. IMO when dropping your car you need to get an alignment done. It is next to impossible to put struts and springs on with out changing how your car is aligned in some form or fashion.

 

Some other info that might help..the LCA and cv axle on the driver side were both changed right before the suspension..and the cv axle on the right side was also going out long before this but I havent changed it yet, I will before the alignment. But keep in mind I had NO problems like this until right AFTER the springs/struts. What I mean by pulling to both sides is if I'm driving and let go of the wheel sometimes it'll pull to the left and sometimes to the right.. it is very weird..I'm really hoping that changing the cv axle and alignment will fix all of this.

 

I think your car is pulling because of the slope in the road.

I forget what the name of this is called. I think it's called banking. They do it so water flows from the middle of the road to either side and down storm drains.

It might be more pronounced now because your suspension is stiffer

 

but im getting excessive wear on the inner parts of both side tires, mainly drivers..

 

Have you been rotating tires? Its normal to get one sided wear on front tires when you dont rotate. Put the front tires on the back and the back on the front. If your tires are not directional then you can switch sides too.

i.e. put the right front tire on the left rear. left front on right rear. etc

I'm not ruling out that your camber is off. It might be. But then you'd have wear on one side.

 

yeah i did rotate them and put a new tire on the front and a month and maybe 2000 miles later the new one is worn on the inside

 

so no adjustment can be made for the rear tires? damn alignment place i went to told me i would need alignment check on all tires and was gonna charge me for each tire.

 

BLAH! someone please summarize everything in here for us suspension newbies. I am going to get tein basics and 18's this summer, after all that is done and coilovers are set to get rid of the 4x4 gap, wont camber be messed up? only reason i care so much is the fact that im probably going to spend around 550 on tires, and itd be great to not have to buy a new set next year...

 

the curve of the road is called a crown.

the height of your car directly affects your toe, as well as your camber. camber will cause tire wear, so will toe, therefore whever you change the height of your car, an alignment should be performed. does that mean that if you dont do an alignment that the car will not drive fine, no, but i would rather be safe than sorry. ever drive with a whole bunck of crap in your trunk lowering the back and raising the front? doesnt drive too nice does it? same principal applies with any lowering job.

if you want to know about alignment/suspension basics, search for it, theres plenty of stuff online

 

$58 at NTB for all 4 wheels...even though we only need the front done.

 

what is NTB?

 

National Tire and Battery-a tire chain store

 

what about goodyear? are their machines good

 

guess noone went to goodyear

 

theyre all the same, the tech is what matters, just ask for a printout of the specs once theyre done. obviously the car is lowered with big wheels, its not going to align to spec, you just want to know how off it is.

 

and keep going back untill it's right.